A-Z of European Space

The first decades: 1959-1994

Personalities Organisations Projects
  • 1978 – PhD in nuclear physics from the University of Groningen
  • 1977 – Selected as ESA European Payload Specialist for the first Spacelab mission, ESA Astronaut on the German D1 Spacelab mission in 1985
  • 2003 – Became full-time professor of Aerospace for Sustainable Engineering and Technology at Delft University of Technology

In 1977 Ockels was selected as one of four European Payload Specialist Candidates for the first Spacelab mission, in ESA’s first astronaut selection. In 1980 he began the basic astronaut training for mission specialist at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston. He successfully completed the training in August 1981 and joined the Spacelab 1 crew for training as a back-up payload specialist for the first mission. During this mission (1983) he served as ground-communicator and liaison-scientist for the crew on board STS-9/Spacelab 1. In 1985 he flew as a payload specialist on flight STS-61A with Space Shuttle Challenger. STS-61A was the German D1 Spacelab mission. From 1986, Ockels was based at ESTEC, where he supported human spaceflight activities and later became Head of ESA’s Education and Outreach Office. From September 2003, in close coordination with ESA, he became full-time professor of Aerospace for Sustainable Engineering and Technology at the Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands, dealing with the exploitation of alternative sources of energy.

 

  • Trained as a military engineer at the Royal Military Academy in Belgium and subsequent post-graduate studies at the Cranfield College of Aeronautics in the UK
  • 1963 - joined ELDO, active in its Europa programmes, in particular the Europa 1 programme from 1963 to 1969 and the Europa 3 programme from 1969 until its cancellation in 1973
  • 1973-1996 - Head of the Ariane Programme for ESRO and, from 1975, for ESA

Orye became Head of the Ariane Programme for ESRO in 1973 when the launcher development project originally called LIIIS adopted the name Ariane. Orye was involved in setting up the complex framework for the programme, the operation of the Guiana Space Centre and the negotiations for Intelsat to become the first external customer for Ariane. He also took part in the last ESC in Brussels in 1975, the first ESA Council at Ministerial Level in 1977, the first ESA mission to China in 1979, the first launch of Ariane on 24 December 1979. He retired in 1996.

See also: Interview with Raymond Orye from the Oral History of Europe in Space Collection